Three incumbents, village clerk in race for Long Grove board
Long Grove voters will select from three incumbents and the town's clerk in the April 2 election for three village trustee seats.
Clerk Amy Johns Gayton and Trustees Michael Sarlitto, Chuck Nora and Chris Borawski are seeking 4-year board terms in next month's election. Nora, Sarlitto and Borawski are running as an informal slate.
All four candidates participated in Daily Herald Editorial Board interviews and addressed issues facing the village in a questionnaire.
Gayton, 50, who co-owns a business with her husband, was appointed Long Grove's clerk in 2016 and won election the following year. One of her top issues is a need for more revenue and increasing Long Grove's sales tax base.
"I am running for many reasons," Gayton said. "I've got a great relationship with the downtown (business association)."
Borawski, 56, director of sales for a global electronic component company, is in his second stint as a village trustee. He served from 2003 to 2007 and returned when he was appointed to fill a 2-year vacancy in 2017.
He said he's been part of an engaged and driven village board that's pushed for infrastructure improvement projects - including reconstructed roads, new lighting, curbs and trees - to benefit downtown businesses.
"The other thing that motivates me to continue serving on the board is beside the businesses, Long Grove still is all about 8,000 residents," Borawski said. "It's about the people who live there."
Sarlitto, 59, a management consultant and business owner, was elected in 2015. If re-elected, he said, he'd like to continue leading the village's roughly year-old advisory economic development commission that has established a "Top 10" list of priorities and is following through on plans, such as investing in infrastructure downtown.
"When I reflect back on where we've been over the last three to four years, it would be a shame to not see it through," Sarlitto said.
Nora, a 58-year-old regional sales manager, was appointed to fill a vacant trustee seat in 2017. He said he wants to build on achievements during his time on the village board, such as providing municipal water line connections downtown and enforcing local codes better.
"Why I am running for re-election is I think we've made great strides in the past two years," Nora said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but we're running the village the way I think that every village should be run."